Our Year in Cria

The Mating Grounds

By: Ciree Hawthorn

Narrated by: Laura Horowitz

Length: 1 hr and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Quinn and Leo have been chosen to represent their zones at the Mating Grounds—a genetic diversity breeding program run by the government. Can they choose a mate before their year is up or will they be assigned to someone and lose out on their chance at a love match?

Quinn has been waiting for years to escape her father’s house. Now that she’s one of the Chosen she has the perfect opportunity to cast off her broken family and finally find happiness. When she arrives at the Mating Grounds can she open herself up to a partner knowing how vulnerable it may leave her? This may be her only chance to start fresh and make her heart whole again.

Leo has led a privileged life as the son of a Governor when his scheming father finds a way to get him chosen. As Leo settles into his new reality can he focus on his happiness or will politics continue to rule his world? One look at the girl his father would loathe has him questioning his priorities. Power or pleasure?

If you enjoy dystopian romances (like Katniss and Peeta’s), a race to partner up (are they your type ‘on paper’?) and a shot of heavy angst, then you’ll love Our Year in Cria.

Previously published as Our Year in Cria: The Mating Grounds [Episodes 1-10] on Kindle Vella.

©2023 Ciree Hawthorn (P)2023 Ciree Hawthorn

Excellent Premise, Unsatisfying Execution

I've listened to this series’ prequel as well as this first book. I think the series has an excellent premise, but so far, each book in the series has been far too short to really tell the story that should be told, and as often happens with novellas, far too much is crammed into the relatively limited short form. When I started listening to this, I had a hard time figuring out who the featured couple was; it actually wasn’t 100% until the pool scene well into the middle of the book. Most romances only feature one couple, but this 1 hour 45-minute book had a LOT of people who could be a part of a couple. In general, being introduced to a lot of characters in an audiobook can be a bit confusing. You're trying to sift through relationships and potential couplings without having the text to refer to in case you become unsure. This book is divided into chapters by time. In this very short novella, an entire year goes by! As such, we only get tiny glimpses into each time period covered. Each only has a handful of scenes. This doesn't allow for any sort of in-depth exploration of characterization or complex plot. Because the premise is so excellent, I really wanted more. The book is really just about the interactions between a relatively small group of people, some of whom couple up; it doesn’t have much tension or any subplot or conflict outside the romance. But again, I felt frustrated by the lack of word real estate; so, no character growth or even a proper romantic arc for any couple. I believe from the book blurb that this is supposed to be Quinn and Leo's story, but their story really didn't stand out as much as it should have, as the ensemble cast of other characters had important scenes (that ultimately didn’t go anywhere). An excellent premise, but not executed as satisfyingly and as well as it could have been.

She was enjoying the freedom, but ignoring the pur

I enjoyed this book in The Mating Grounds series. I particularly enjoyed Leo, and the lengths he went to in order to communicate his feelings toward Quinn. Gotta admit, initially I appreciated her hesitation to pay much mind to alot of the bantering going on around her. With the family life she came from, she was simply enjoying the respite given to her. As it droned on, however, I grew tired of her insistence to keep everyone (especially eligible males) at arms length. She was going to end up in a forced pairing if she didn't stop acting better-than and holyier-thou with everyone.

For whatever reason, Leo had been taken with her from the start, and was not going to let her prickly defenses deture him. He had a sense underneath was someone special he wanted to know much better. The idea that she was just the opposite of his father's agenda was simply icing on the cake (not that he really gave it much mind).

Would he wait around while she coldly rebuffed every nice thing he did (even when he could see her physically respond to them)? Yeah, essentially while she played games! He was on a 1-year clock to pair too. Would Quinn over get tired of the game and be honest? Let her heavily guarded walls down enough for Leo to see the real her? Or were they destined to be the only unpaired Chosen at the end of a year?

It was an interesting book, especially as I have a much better understanding of the community in which the Chosen are living, including their sleeping arrangements and the overall "lack of privacy" mentality of the organizers. I received this Audible recording as an ARC, and though I got it out of sequence I'm not sure it made much difference. I definately recommend this series as it encourages an open mind and outside the box thinking. Enjoy!